The London School of Economics should donate Libyan money to charity

Signatures

295 Signatures.

Opened on February 22, 2011

Last year, the London School of Economics (LSE) accepted a £1.5m donation from the murderous Gaddafi regime in Libya via the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation (GICDF), led by one of Colonel Gaddafi's sons, for the LSE Global Governance research centre.

Over the past week, the Libyan regime of Colonel Gaddafi, the longest-serving dictator in Africa, has been massacring civilians peacefully protesting in Tripoli, Benghazi, and other Libyan towns. We, the undersigned, are shocked at the knowledge that funds carrying the Gaddafi family name are being used to support research intended to strengthen civil society, and promote human rights and democracy. Though we applaud the move by the university to review the use of the funds as a "matter of urgency", this does not go far enough.

We assert that the LSE has only one option, if it is to retain its moral standing: to issue a statement immediately condemning the current repression in Libya and to reject the remainder of the donation.

Additionally, we the undersigned call for the £300,000 already received by the LSE to be donated to real humanitarian efforts (or sponsoring a scholarship program for Libyan refugees and prisoners of conscience) in memory of all of the victims of the Gaddafi regime.